Earlier this month, the Islamist-led opposition in Syria broadcast a video clip of a militant threatening the nation’s Christian minority, with a focus on the Cherubim monastery and the large Jesus statue recently erected in the region of Saidnaya in Damascus.

In the video, images of militants firing rockets at the ancient monastery and setting the building on fire appear (confirmed elsewhere). The Christ statue also appears being targeted, though it is unclear if it was damaged.

The 128-foot tall bronze Christ statue, christened “I have come to save the world,” was recently erected in war-torn Syria, with support from the Russian Orthodox Church.

Throughout the video clip, Islamic chanting is heard and Koran verses recited, including those vowing destruction to all polytheism (shirk), a reference to Christianity.

After the speaker in the video accuses Syria’s Christians of being supportive of the secular Bashar Assad government, he declares: “The swords of Islam shall fall upon your necks in your own monasteries, Allah willing—and Allah is witness to our words!”

Article from Terrasanta.net a media outlet of the Franciscan Custody of the Holy Land. Translated from Italian.

The ruins of Holy Spirit, Syriac Catholic Cathedral, in the “REBEL” CONTROLLED district of Hamidiyeh, Homs, Syria – Source

Sheikh Badr Eddin Ghazal, a senior Alawite cleric moments before his execution by the Sunni extremist al-Qaeda group Jabhat al-Nusra. He was abducted along with 150 Syrian citizens in the village of Baroude near Latakia on 05/08/2013. Source